3 Up & 3 Down: All About The Pitching Edition

The New York Mets wind up taking 3 of the 4 games against the St. Louis Cardinals, losing the finale on Monday afternoon. Since I work fulltime, it’s very hard for me to catch weekday games, but it’s really of no consequence, because this edition of 3&3 is all about some great weekend pitching by the Mets.

3 Up:

• Oh, What A Night: Friday night Johan Santana made Mets history, and also made a lots of Met fans very, very happy! Let the record show that in game 8020, on June 1, 2012, Johan Santana pitched the first no hitter in NY Mets history. What else can you say really? Johan has been totally outstanding in his return this season. Not only was Friday a no hitter, it was Johan’s second consectutive complete game shutout. It’s a pretty good bet to pick Johan as this year’s NL Comeback Player of the Year!!
• Let’s Not Forget The Knuckleballer: R.A. Dickey took the mound Saturday afternoon, and it was a pretty good bet he wouldn’t hold the Cards hitless. Who thought he’d keep them off the scoreboard though? Dickey with the complete game shutout on Saturday afternoon, and guess what folks, the Mets suddenly have a pretty decent 1-2 punch in their rotation.
• Terry Collins: I put Terry here, for the great job he did Friday night in letting Johan do what Johan had to do. I also put Terry here for the emotion and class he showed on Friday night. Very few times in Mets history have they had a manager who wears his heart on his sleeve like Terry does.
• Honorable Mention: To our guys in the SNY booth and to Howie Rose on The Fan. A great job calling the no-hitter by Howie, and a great job by SNY capturing all the drama and emotion. Not going to a commercial after the 8th inning was great.

 

3 Down:

• The Idiot in the Carter Jersey: Lost in Friday night’s hoopla was the idiot who ran onto the field and joined the on field celebration. I’m sorry, but there is no excuse whatsoever for a fan running onto the field like that. I hope he gets prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It’s a shame the clown had to dishonor a Gary Carter jersey.
• The Naysayers: Mostly the Yankee fans, and Met haters who say it was a “cheap” no-hitter due to the umpire’s blown call. MLB has long determined that the “human element” of the umpire is a part of the game. As such, the alleged blown call was “just part of the game.” It’s really amazing to me though how Yankee fans who’s team has always been given many close calls, have the audacity to complain about a call going the Met’s way.
• What About Josh: When the 1962 Mets drafted their catcher Casey said “without a catcher, you’d have a lot of passed balls.” Indeed. Also without a catcher, you wouldn’t have a no-hitter. I think in all the hoopla, the great job done by Josh Thole (just off the DL), was overlooked. Josh did a great job handling Johan, and a great job behind the plate. He deserved more props and ink than he received.

It’s off to DC and the Nationals for our Mets, who dropped out of first place with Monday’s loss. Who would have thought it, first full week of June, Mets and Nats fighting it out for the NL East lead. LGM!!!